Rolling mill



W. SYKES ROLLING MILL lJuly 5, 1932,.

Filed oct.' 31,

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July 5, 1932.

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mw l L L L www Patented July 5, 1932 UNITED STATES WILFRED SYKES,CHICAGO, ILLINOIS ROLLING MILL Application led Octcber 31, 1931. SerialNo. 572,386.

My invention relates more particularly to rolling mills for cold rollingstrips or bands of metal.

It is generally necessary inthe cold rolling of strips of metal by twoor more mills in tandem to maintain a definite uniform tension in thestri between the stands to roll the strip to uniform gage as a variationin the tension with the same settin of the rollswill cause a variationin gage o the finished material.

My primary object is to provide mechanism which will operateautomatically to render the tension in the strip between the standsuniform and of the desired degree.

` Referring to the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a rolling mill `comprising two stands andembodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of the mill, the section beingtaken coincident vwith the strip shown in position in the mill.

Figure 3 is a plan sectional ldiagrammatic view of the ymill showing thevarious elec- 15 i trical connections of the mechanism controlling thetension of the strip; and

Figure 4, a diagrammatic view of the electrical devices used in thecontrol referred to and their electrical connections.

Referring to the particular construction shown, the rolling millcomprises two stan d s 5 and 6 of rolls the intermediate ones of whichare represented at 7 and 8, these sets of rolls being driven, inaccordance with common practice, by means of electric motors 9 and 10,respectively, in driving relation' thereto through reduction gearmechanism representedat 11 and 12, respectively, the rolls 7 rotating inone direction and the rolls p8 in the opposite direction.

The stands 5 and 6 are spaced apart, the strip which is rolled betweenthe rolls 7 and 8 and represented at 13,v spanning the space between thestands and traveling from `the right to the left in Fig. 1.

The mill comprises means whereby the'tension in the strip 13 between thestands is maintained uniform, these means operating` in the eventoftendency of the rolls of the 5 stand 6 to decelerate or the tendencyof the rolls of stand 5 to accelerate, in either of which events thetension in the strip 13 would be reduced, to increase thespeed of therolls of stand 6 to restore the desired predetermined tension in thestrip; and in the event of the tendency of the rolls of stand 6 toaccelerate or of the rolls of stand 5 to decelerate, in either of whichevents the tension in the strip 13 would be increased, to ldecreasethe-speed ofthe rolls of stand 6 and restore (so the desiredpredetermined` tension in the strip. "j

These means according to the preferred illustrated embodiment of theinvention, comprise a yoke 14 secured to a. shaft 15 journaled` 65 inthe frame of the stand 5, the yoke14 eX- .tending into the space betweenthe stands and having a roller 16 journaledl in the arms of the yoke andadapted -to bear against the underside of the strip 13 in the movementof the latter through the stands. The shaft 15 is provided with a lever17 rigid therewith and having at one end a counterweight 18 tending torock the shaft 15 in a direction lfor forcing the roller 16 upwardlyagainst the strip 13, the lever 17 at its opposite end connecting withthe stem 19 of a fluidoperated piston and cylinder mechanism thecylinder of which is represented at 2() and provided for the purpose ofrocking cm the shaft 15 in counterclockwise direction to lower theroller 16 when desired.

The'shaft 15is also provided with an arm 21 connected by a link 22 with.the contact arm 23 of a potentiometer rheostat 24, the link 22 beingformed of longitudinally adjustable sections.v The arm 23 is rotatablymounted between its ends as represented at 25 to slide at its ends 26and 27, insulated from the central portion of the arm byinsulatingmaterial represented at 28 and 29, along contact strips 30 and. 31,respectively, and along series 32 .and 33 of stationary contactsinterposed at intervals in the resistance coils 34 and 35, respectively,of the rhcostat 95 24.

The rheosvtat 24 is in circuit, as hereinafter described, with a smallshunt Wound motor 36 the armature shaft 37 of which drives a Worm 38which meshes with a. worm wheel 10o 39 to which the movable contact arm40 of a rheostat 41 is connected, the outer end portion 42 of the arm 40and insulated from the remainder of this arm by insulation representedat 43, sliding along a contact ring 44 and along a series of stationarycontacts 45 interposed at intervals in the resistance coils 46 of therheostat 41 which latter is connected with the ield winding 47 of themotor 10 which drives the rolls of the stand 6.

The circuit connections of the various electrical contacts are asfollows: The line wires are represented at 48 and 49. Wires 50 and 51connect the terminals of the commutator of the motor 10 with the linewires.

of the terminals of the lield 47 of motor 10 connects with the line wire49 by a line wire 52, the other terminal of field 47 being connectedwith one of the terminals of the resistance coil 46 by a wire 53 theother terminal of which connects with line wire 48 by a wire 54. -Thecommutator terminals of motor 9 connect, by wires 55 and 56, with the'line wires 48 and 49, respectively, and the fieldl terminals of thismotor connect with the wires 48 and 49 by wires 57 and 58, respectively.

The lield winding 36a of the shunt motor 36 connects by wires 59 and 60with the line wires 48 and 49, respectively, and the commutatorterminals of this motor connect, by wireslfand 62, with the contact'bars 30 and 31,; respectively. The adjacent ends of the resistancecoils 34 and 35 are connected together by a wire 63, this wire beingconnected, by a wire 64, with line wire 49. The other ends of the coils34 and 35 connect, by a wire l 65 with the other line wire 48.

The-operation of the apparatus is as follows: With a given Size ofcounterweight 18 suicient to cause the roller 16 to press against theunderside of the strip 13 with the necessary orce for producing thedesired tension in this strip, the sections of link 22 are adjusted tocause the contact arm 23 to assume the neutral position shown in Fig. 4.l

Should the motor 10 increase in speed and thereby tend to increase thetension in the strip 13 the pressure of the strip against the roller 16'will lower the latter thereby rockingFthe yoke14 in counterclockwisedirection in ig. 1 and cause the contact arm 23 to assume such aposition relative to the resistance coils 32 and 33 that voltage will beapplied to the armature of motor 36 driving this motor in a direction toshift the rheostat arm 40 into such a position that the resistance inthe circuit of field 47 of motor 10 decreases, thus slowing down themotor to a speed relieving the excess tension in the strip 13, theroller 16, yoke 14, and contact arm 23, returning to their originalpositions. The same operationas that above described would take place inthe event that the speed of the motor 9 decreased, the increased tensionin the strip One 13 re-acting against the roller 16 and causing aslowing down of the speed of the motor 10 to restore the originaltension in the strip.

Should the speed of the motor 10 become decreased relative to thev speedof the motor 9 or the speed of the motor 9 become increased relative tothe speed of the motor 10, the roller 16 will assume a higher positionthereby moving the contact arm 23 into such a position relative to theresistance coils 31 and 32 that voltage will tbe applied to the armatureof motor 36 driving this motor in a direction to shift the rheostat arm40 into such a position that the resistance in the circuit of field 47increases and speeds up the motor 10 to restore the original degree oftension in the strip 13.

As will be understood, the tension on the strip 13 may be regulatedeither by adjusting the position of the counterweight 18 on the arm 17,or by selecting a counterweight of the desired size, or by adjusting thelinkage between the shaft 15 and the contact arm 23, as 'by relativelyllengthwise adjusting the sections of the link 22.

When more than two stands of rolls are employed it would be desirable toprovide strip tension regulating means as described for cooperation withthe strip between each adjacent stand. Thus assuming that three standsof rolls are employed the third one being located to the left of thestand 6 in F ig. l, the controlling mechanism for the motor 10 andinvolving the potentiometer rheostat 24 together with the means foractuating it responsive to variations in tension in the strip 13 and therheostat 41 controlled by the motor 36, in turn controlled by thepotentiometer rheostat 24, would be duplicated for the motor of thisthird stand of rolls. In other words, for each additional stand, controlmechanism as above described would\be provided for controlling the motordriving the rollers of the stand.

While I have illustrated and described a. particular constructionembodying my invention, I do not wish to be understood as intending tolimit it thereto as the same may be variously modified and alteredwithout departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: v

1. In a rolling mill, the combination of a. plurality of roll standsthrough which the strip beingl rolled passes in succession, drive meansfor said stands, respectively, and means controllingl the speed ofoperation of one of said drive means relative to the other of said drivemeans to maintain the degree of tension in the strip between said standssubstantially a constant comprising a movable member adapted to bearagainst a face of the strip, a potentiometer rheostat controlled by saidmovable member, a second rheostat 'controlling the speed of operation ofthe said controllable one of said drive means, and means controllable bysaid potentiometer rheostat for controlling said second rheostat.

2. In a rolling mill, the'combination of a plurality of roll standsthrough which the strip being rolled passes in succession, drive meansfor said stands, respectively, and means controlling the speed ofoperation of one of said drive means relative to the other of said drivemeans to maintain the degree of tension in the strip between said standssubstantially a constant comprising a movable member adapted to bearagainst a face of the strip, a potentiometer rheostat controlled by saidmovable member, a second rheostat controlling the speed of operation ofthe said controllable one of said drive means, and a motor controllableby said potentiometer rheostat for controlling said second rheostat.

3. In a rolling mill, the combination of a. plurality of roll standsthrough which the strip being rolled passes in succession, electricmotors operatively connected with rolls of said stands, respectively,for operating said rolls, and means controlling the speed o o eration ofone of said motors relative to Jt e other thereof to maintain the degreeof tension in said strip between said stands substantially a constantcomprising a movable member adapted to bear against a face of the strip,a potentiometer rheostat controlled by said movable member, a secondrheostat controlling the'speed of operation ofthe said controllable oneof said motors, and means controllable by said potentiometer rheostatfor controlling said second rheostat.

4. In a rollingl mill, the combination of a plurality of roll standsthrough which the strip being rolled passes in succession, electricmotors operatively connected with rolls of said stands, respectively,for operating said rolls, and means controlling the speed of operationof one of said motors relative to the other thereof to maintain thedegree of tension in said strip between said stands substantially avconsta-nt comprising a movable member adapted to bear against a faceofthe strip, a potentiometer rheostat controlled by said movable member, asecond rheostat controlling the speed of operation of the saidcontrollable one of said motors, and a motor controllable by saidpotentiometer rheostat for controlling said second rheostat.

WILFRED SYKES.

